Richard’s international blue-chip corporate experience and his recent experience of rebranding himself to launch his portfolio career gives him a highly relevant perspective for anybody who is navigating a career transition. He has made this his coaching speciality, working particularly with candidates for board positions. When experiencing any career change, it is often necessary to adopt a different mind-set, build new working relationships, engage a wide range of unknown stakeholders and make decisions in unfamiliar territory. And this needs to happen fast. The first 90 days are crucial. Richard brings this understanding, the appropriate tools and his highly relevant experience to equip directors and senior executives make rapid progress and achieve a successful start in their new roles.

Coaching style

Richard’s coaching style is friendly and pragmatic yet highly results-oriented. He holds his clients accountable and combines high support with goal-focused challenge. His coaching is focused on helping clients clarify their career transition goals and then helping them accelerate their progress. On leaving Shell in 2016, he very successfully launched an online coaching software company which helps people achieve their goals. This platform supports the goal focus that underpins his coaching.

Coaching background

Richard has a blue-chip commercial background. He enjoyed a varied 25-year career in sales, marketing, strategy and learning and development. He started his career at Kellogg’s and his last corporate role was at Shell where he was the Global Head of Learning Development, headed up a team of 40 L&D professionals and responsible for the development of 500,000 people across 62 countries. Throughout his career, Richard operated as both line manager and coach, with team members spread across 22 different countries. This gave him a deep appreciation of cultural differences which has strengthened his ability to flex his coaching style.

Richard uses the Axiometrics tool (he’s an accredited analyst), which accurately measures cognitive processes and identifies the values and valuing system upon which an individual bases their decisions. It identifies skills, talent, ‘access to talent’ and attitude within a specific environment, giving a root cause understanding of behaviour and talent.

Richard has been a guest speaker at the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC) and other coaching conferences.

Qualifications and professional memberships

• BA honours degree (Durham University) and MBA (Leeds University)
• Diploma in Marketing (Chartered Institute of Marketing)
• Global DISC (licensed practitioner)
• ‘Engage & Grow’ (licensed coach)
• Learning & Performance Institute (Fellow)­
• Axiometrics (accredited analyst)

Richard is based in Leeds and coaches clients across the UK (mainly virtually).